Safeguarding and Protecting Children

The British Paralympic Association (BPA) has a duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of members who are under the age of eighteen.

The BPA is committed to:
•   Making the welfare of children paramount. This means that the need to ensure that children are protected is a primary consideration and may override the rights and needs of those adults working with them
•   Enabling everyone whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious belief and/or sexual identity to participate in BPA organised activities in a fun and safe environment
•   Taking all reasonable steps to protect children from harm, discrimination and degrading treatment and to respect their rights, wishes and feelings
•   Taking seriously all concerns and allegations of poor practice or abuse and responding swiftly and appropriately to them in accordance with current procedures
•   Ensuring that all BPA employees and consultants who work with children are appropriate for their role and responsibilities and are provided with relevant training
•   Recognising that children and families from minority group backgrounds may face additional barriers to accessing help and reporting concerns in respect of safeguarding issues.

British Paralympic Association Safeguarding Officers

The BPA has a Lead Safeguarding Officer and a Deputy Safeguarding Officer who have responsibility for Safeguarding at the British Paralympic Association. They have undertaken relevant training with the CPSU.

Lead Safeguarding Officer
Kate Eddy
Athlete Services Manager
Kate.Eddy@paralympics.org.uk

Deputy Safeguarding Officer
Joanna Wright
Performance Services Officer
Joanna.Wright@paralympics.org.uk

Safeguarding and Protecting Children Policy

This policy forms part of the staff induction at the BPA and can be found here: http://paralympics.org.uk/about-us/policies

Reporting concerns

The British Paralympic Association has clear procedures for reporting concerns for a child both in and outside of a sports environment.

Reporting procedures can be found in Appendix Four and Five of the Safeguarding and Protecting Children Policy (link above).

Safe Recruitment Practice

BPA will ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to prevent unsuitable people from working with children.

All volunteers and employees working in a role that involves significant access to children, or where they hold a Position of Trust, or existing volunteers or employees who change their role to work with children, are required to complete a vetting process as outlined in the safeguarding policy in 5.1 Safe Recruitment Practice.

Awareness and Training

In addition to pre-selection checks, the safeguarding process includes training after recruitment to help staff and volunteers for BPA and ParalympicsGB to:
•   Analyse their own practice against established good practice, and to ensure their practice is not likely to result in allegations being made.
•   Recognise their responsibilities and report any concerns about suspected poor practice or possible abuse.
•   Respond to concerns expressed by a child.
•   Work safely and effectively with children.

Information for parents

Information regarding questions to ask and things to look out for when choosing a sports club for your child can be found here: https://thecpsu.org.uk/help-advice/related-information/information-for-parents-and-carers/

Contacting your National Governing Body

Contact information for NGBs can be found here: https://thecpsu.org.uk/help-advice/deal-with-a-concern#who-can-support-you

Who can support you?

NSPCC
Worried about a child? Advice and support whenever you need it.
Tel: 0808 800 5000

ChildLine
A free and confidential helpline for children who have concerns.
Tel: 0800 1111

The Safe Network
Safeguarding information and advice for the voluntary and community sector - from after school art clubs to weekend reading groups.
Tel: 0845 608 5404 or email enquiries@safenetwork.org.uk